HenryJ
Expedition Leader
We are back! We cut it short and did not make our target. The temperature warmed up to the mid forties and things were getting way too mushy.
We left on schedule even though our long distance traveler had to take it slow on the way over. By 8:30 am we met at the Sinclair station in Vale, OR. Over the hill and out of town we stopped to air down a few miles from the turn off.
Mine is the Chevy crew cab S-10 in the lead. My wife and son are with me. I am followed by Scott in his first generation S-10 pick-up, I was not introduced, or maybe I missed it, but the young man riding shot gun with him may have been his son. Ross is behind him in the Rover with his wife as the navigator. His back seat has his three boys enjoying the ride. Jim sits along side in his Jeep with his passenger Jon riding along.
I missed the turn as the road had been hidden by the berm the snow plows had left. We all turned around at the bottom of the hill and found our way offroad.
We were not the first as there was a two track before us. It appeared to be a few days old though as it had drifted over for much of the trail.
Over the top of this ridge the wind had really been blowing. One spot I had to take a second run at the drift to break trail. Scott was our lowest ground clearance rig. He had a few issues with traction when the belly would rub, but he came through just fine.
Jim took the lead after that stretch. Breaking trail with those big wide MT tires. We talked about checking out the Buckaroo Cabin that sits aside Cabin Creek. Jim was nice enough to delineate where the soft spots in the crossing were. I got lucky and hung back a little before he made the attempt. Just right as it turns out as I had about two wraps beyond the red on my winchline.
He sunk in to his knee in the wonderful cow pasture mixture that is cabin creek. That is why he looks down in that photo. His head is not hung in shame!
My truck is up hill and on snow. Pulling him was inching my truck forward, so we attached a strap to Scott's truck as a precaution.
Jim's Jeep is locked both front and rear, so he was able to dig in good. Ross is our digger and cleared behind that buried rear tire with his shovel. It pulled out pretty nicely.
I didn't get any pictures of the crossing we made, I think the others may have some good shots. Those new bump stops on the front really did work. I hit it hard. They say my front caught some good air. It felt good with no rub in the landing.
Once everyone made the crossing we were in for a pretty good grade up and out. I had to take a second run at it. Scott slid to the side a little. Ross pulled him straight and he dropped a little more air in the tires to make the ascent. This was the point where we might have had to chain up, but made it through without them.
Ross got a little sideways pulling backward, but jockeyed back and forth to get back up on the road. His tires were just some all-season radials. His Rover really did perform admirably for the conditions considering they were the least aggressive tires of the bunch. The slushy wet conditions were really starting to make things difficult. The snow packed to a wet icy wall you had to push your way through.
We left on schedule even though our long distance traveler had to take it slow on the way over. By 8:30 am we met at the Sinclair station in Vale, OR. Over the hill and out of town we stopped to air down a few miles from the turn off.
Mine is the Chevy crew cab S-10 in the lead. My wife and son are with me. I am followed by Scott in his first generation S-10 pick-up, I was not introduced, or maybe I missed it, but the young man riding shot gun with him may have been his son. Ross is behind him in the Rover with his wife as the navigator. His back seat has his three boys enjoying the ride. Jim sits along side in his Jeep with his passenger Jon riding along.
I missed the turn as the road had been hidden by the berm the snow plows had left. We all turned around at the bottom of the hill and found our way offroad.
We were not the first as there was a two track before us. It appeared to be a few days old though as it had drifted over for much of the trail.
Over the top of this ridge the wind had really been blowing. One spot I had to take a second run at the drift to break trail. Scott was our lowest ground clearance rig. He had a few issues with traction when the belly would rub, but he came through just fine.
Jim took the lead after that stretch. Breaking trail with those big wide MT tires. We talked about checking out the Buckaroo Cabin that sits aside Cabin Creek. Jim was nice enough to delineate where the soft spots in the crossing were. I got lucky and hung back a little before he made the attempt. Just right as it turns out as I had about two wraps beyond the red on my winchline.
He sunk in to his knee in the wonderful cow pasture mixture that is cabin creek. That is why he looks down in that photo. His head is not hung in shame!
My truck is up hill and on snow. Pulling him was inching my truck forward, so we attached a strap to Scott's truck as a precaution.
Jim's Jeep is locked both front and rear, so he was able to dig in good. Ross is our digger and cleared behind that buried rear tire with his shovel. It pulled out pretty nicely.
I didn't get any pictures of the crossing we made, I think the others may have some good shots. Those new bump stops on the front really did work. I hit it hard. They say my front caught some good air. It felt good with no rub in the landing.
Once everyone made the crossing we were in for a pretty good grade up and out. I had to take a second run at it. Scott slid to the side a little. Ross pulled him straight and he dropped a little more air in the tires to make the ascent. This was the point where we might have had to chain up, but made it through without them.
Ross got a little sideways pulling backward, but jockeyed back and forth to get back up on the road. His tires were just some all-season radials. His Rover really did perform admirably for the conditions considering they were the least aggressive tires of the bunch. The slushy wet conditions were really starting to make things difficult. The snow packed to a wet icy wall you had to push your way through.
